Next 'Road Warrior' Will ... Still Not Be Mel Gibson?

Advance word on the amazing action in George Miller's The Road Warrior in 1982 was amazingly strong, even without Internet movie sites. When The Road Warrior did rampage on American movie screens, lo, the destructive path was indeed very broad and thrilling, unsuspecting audiences collectively dropped their jaws, and Mel Gibson was firmly cemented as an "A" list star.

The Road Warrior was, of course, a sequel to Miller's Mad Max, also starring Gibson, but that amazing adrenaline-fueled movie was relegated to drive-ins and Gibson's voice, deemed "too Australian," was ignominiously dubbed into "American" by another actor. The third movie in the series, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, was a bit of a letdown, though it definitely had its moments, and is probably best remembered for Tina Turner's appearance. Gibson went on to a huge career for many years, while director Miller moved on to family-friendly fare like Babe: Pig in the City and Happy Feet.

Australian paper the Herald Sun is reporting that Miller is scouting for locations for a fourth film in the series, and production could get started later this year. Miller himself hasn't confirmed anything. The paper repeats the story from two years ago (which we reported on at the time) that the next Road Warrior would not be Gibson, and we don't have any word from Gibson that he's suddenly interested. Harry Knowles at Ain't It Cool says that he spoke with someone who claimed to have seen a script that had already been entirely storyboarded. Right now it's all rumors. What young buck could step into the legendary character of Max? Or should Mel return?